Letter-file



UNITED STATES 'PATENT Ormes.

CLARENCE II. VILEY, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

LETTER-FILE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 574,974, dated'Jannary 12, 1897. Application tiled July 20, 1896. Serial No. 599,801. (Nomodel.)

T 0 @ZZ whom, t may concern:

Be it known that l', CLARENCE H. WILEY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain Vnew and useful Improvements in Letter-Files,

of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, whereby any one skilled in the art can make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in the construction of letter and bill files having pockets for the reception of such papers; and the object of my invention is to provide a iile of this class that shall be extremely cheap of construction and suiiicientlydurable to withstand the severe use to which it may be put, and to enable the partitions forming the sections or pockets to be expanded under various conditions without distorting or mutilating the file.

To this end my invention consists in the details of the several parts making up the file-case as a whole and in their combination, as hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure l is a perspective View of a lecase embodying my improvement. Fig. 2 is a detail side view, in vertical central section, of the device. Fig. 3 is a detail end View, in central vertical section, of the device. Fig. 4L is a plan View. Fig. 5 is a detail side View of the open edge of the le, showing the index.

In the accompanying drawings the letter a denotes the sides of the le, that may be made of any iiexible material,as pasteboard. These sides are joined at the ends by folded pieces b and at the bottom by a folded piece c. These folds are evenly constructed, forming gus# seted ends and bottom to the case.

The ends b and bottom cmay be formed of a single piece, if desired, suit-ably folded to form the end corners at the bottom.

That portion of the case above described is of well-known construction and does not constitute, except in combination with my hereinafter-described improvement, any feature of invention at this time.

The end pieces b are folded over at their upper edge, this folded edge forming a reinforce b', extending the entire distance between the side parts a, This construction enables an economical file to be produced, at the same time having they necessary qualities as to strength for reinforcing the gusseted ends at the top to withstand thesevere strains put upon the file in use at these points.

The partitions CZ are formed of a single piece of material passing back and forth from end to end of the file. At each end these partitions are folded or gusseted to correspond with the gnsseted ends of the file, the piece being so folded that at each end every other partition is shorter than that on either side, so that the folded end d shall lie within the line of gussets of the end sections b of the case. The remaining ends of the partitions are folded or gusseted to correspond with the gusseted ends of the case, and points b2 of the gusseted end pieces are secured, as by means of mucilage, within the recesses d2 of thepartitions. These partitions may, if desired, extend above the upper edge of the case and be cut away to form an index c. This single piece,forn1ing a partition,is folded at its upper edge to provide a reinforce f, this reinforce being formed in similar manner as is the reinforce b on the end pieces of the case.

In the use of iiles of this class prior to my invention and Where each of the partitions forming the pockets is secured at each edge the capacity of the several pockets is practically the same, but the conditions of use are such in the filing of papers that when certain of the pockets are lled to their utmost capacity others will contain very few papers, and this limits the capacity of the iile from the fact of the, consequent presence of so much unused space. In attempting to fill this space by crowding the already full compartments beyond their capacity the partitions are torn at their upper edge.

By my within improvement, the partitions being free, the fold or gusset at the ends, as described, allows any compartment to be iilled to a greater or less extent without unnecessary wear or tear at the upper edge, and this wear and tear is further prevented by the reinforce at the upper edge of the partition.

It is to be noted that by my improved con'- struction no two partitions forming the side walls of any one pocket are secured at both ends, but at certain intervals a single partition is secured at both ends, this providing ICO means whereby the partitions located between those partitions secured at both ends may be moved in the iiling of papers into that space normally occupied by the free end of another partition.

I have described the gusseted ends of the ile-case and that portion of the partition secured thereto as corresponding, and it is not meant by this that the abutting parts shall exactly conform in shape, but shall be so made that they may be attached each to the other at some one or more points.

The piece forming the partitions has been described herein as of a sin gle piece,but when that feature of the invention consisting of a portion of the partitions being free at their ends is present the partition-piece may be made of a number of pieces without departing from the invention. i

In the claims herein I have described the partitions as being formed in a single piece, and by this I do not intend to include a siligle piece forming all of the partitions, but to include two or more partitions formed in a singie piece, whether all oraportion of the ends are secured to the gusseted ends of the le.

I claim as my invention- 'l. In combination in a letter or invoice iile having gusseted bottom and ends, partitions formed of a single piece of material eXtending back and forth with gusseted ends secured to the gusseted end portions of the le, all substantially as described.

2. In combination in a letter or invoice ille having gusseted bottom and ends, partitions formed of a continuous piece of material extending back and forth, and having gusseted ends a part of which are secured to the gusseted end pieces of the file, and a portion of the ends left free, all substantially as described.

3. In combination with a letter or invoice iile having gusseted bottom and ends, partitions forined of a single piece of material extending back and forth and gusseted at each fold,a portion of the gusseted partitions being secured to the gusseted end portions of the file, and a portion being left free, the upper edge of the partition-piece being folded its entire length to form a reinforce, all substantially as described.

4. In combination in a letter or invoice file having gusseted bottom and ends, partitions extending between the gusseted ends and gusseted to correspond therewith, a portion of the ends of the partitions being free and a portion secured to the end pieces of the iile, all substantially as described.

5. In combination in a letter or invoice file having gusseted ends, partitions extending between the gusseted ends and gusseted to correspond therewith, each end portion having a gusseted partition secured thereto.

CLARENCE II. XVILEY.

Witnesses ARTHUR B. J ENKrNs, J. STERN. 

